The six
by dragoncreek319
Summary: Sort of an au. And, well, spoilers ahoy! This is what I think could have happened when everyone else finds out about Jason. Assumes that everyone is at camp(Jupiter). Oohhhh.. emotional h/c and tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

**The six**

 **a/n: This takes place after The Burning Maze, soooooo.. spoilers ahead. And it is a two-shot with the POVs of as many of the seven as I can include, oops- six.**

Piper stared into oblivion as she contemplated what has transpired in the last few days, daring herself to pick up the freaking phone and call Annabeth, tell her what had happened. She deserved to know. They all did. Leo knew. The others didn't. And as much as she'd like to keep it that way, she found out she couldn't. Piper was devastated, but she still felt a little selfish keeping this bombshell from everyone while this daughter of Aphrodite could have a few days of grieving. It wasn't fair, they hadn't even been a couple anymore, when Jason... _How could she even think like that. It didn't matter if they had been together or not_ , she convinced herself. Except it did matter. Maybe if Piper hadn't broken anything off, a person she loves, no _loved_ could've been alive at the moment. Her mother had been right. Love is powerful, dangerous and can be used as a weapon.

 _Suck it up,_ she berated herself and dialled her friend's number. Annabeth and Percy had been off helping a Norse demigod, supposedly Annabeth's cousin, but they had been back only recently. Camp Jupiter was fighting the whole fiasco with Apollo and the kings and Percy and Annabeth had been assisting, along with Frank, Hazel, Nico and the hunters. _Gods, what was she going to tell Thalia?_ Deciding that she'd deal with that later, she pressed the CALL button with burning eyes that threatened to spill tears at a moment's notice.

"Hello?," Annabeth's voice travelled over the phone in her hand.

"Uhh... A... Annabeth?," Piper's voice sounded weak to her own ears and she knew her friend had caught up on that emotion. Oh, well.

* * *

"Piper? What, what's wrong? Are you okay?," Annabeth added quickly over the line. Her friend, possibly her best friend sounded like she was about to cry and Piper was one of the strongest people she knew. Damn her to Tartarus if she was about to let her friend have zero emotional support. She turned away from the table where she had been eating with Percy and stood up. Seaweed brain stopped dressing his pancakes in blue sauce and stared up at her questioningly. Annabeth waved a hand dismissively and he looked down once again deciding his pancakes hadn't drowned in enough sauce.

"I.. I, J... Jas... Jason's g.. gone. He's , he's gone, Annabeth! ," Piper was wailing now and Annabeth couldn't help the short gasp that escaped her mouth which was followed by a hand clasped to her mouth. Percy turned to her. Annabeth ignored him.

" What do you mean, _gone?_ "Gone could mean a lot of different things, right. Except her heart knew that there was only one type of 'gone' Piper was referring to.

" Jason, he's d..dead," Piper was whispering now, which was worse because that meant she had accepted that piece of news. " He, uhhm," She heard Piper swallow and then continue "He died , _gods,_ he was , was stabbed from behind. Again. B..by Caligula. It was...he...me and Apollo... Meg...just slumped forward...Tempest...arrows...spear..and the blood, all the b..blood, I.. I'm not making any sense, am I?," Annabeth could hear the sheer despair in her voice and pieced together a picture of what Piper had tried to describe. She didn't want to. A familiar sadness took place in her heart and she felt tears trickle at the back of her throat. It would hurt more later, but for now she had to be strong for her best friend. She gulped down her own grief and spoke into the device.

"Piper, where.. where are you, right now?," She asked hoping that Piper wasn't alone at the time. She turned once again only to be met with Percy's concerned face, eyebrows all scrunched together and went to sit back down. Keeping her elbows on the table, one hand in her hair and the other holding the phone, she waited for the reply.

"O.. Oklahoma, with my dad and uhm, Coach Hedge, Leo and Mellie," That meant that Leo knew about it too. The sadness enveloping her heart tightened when she got what Piper was going to ask her to do. Her eyes watered and she blinked back the tears. "Annabeth, could, could you tell the others? I...uhhm, don't think I c..can."

"Of, of course. Yeah, yeah.. yeah, I'll tell them," Her voice caught at 'tell' and she caught Piper's raspy thanks before the line clicked shut.

Annabeth swivelled her head around and saw Percy looming over her.

"You, uhhm, might wanna sit down for this," Annabeth's voice was croaky and she hadn't even been crying. Percy sat at the only other chair, the one opposite hers. She internally chuckled, remembering the incident which caused all the chairs and tables in the camp to be nailed down then remembered what she was about to do and guilt filled her insides. She wasn't supposed to be laughing, she was supposed to be crying. Grieving. She looked up at her boyfriend who was looking at her and she started off.

"Percy, uhhm, gods, something happened...and..," Annabeth wondered how one tells one that one of their best friends died. Bloody. Thankfully, if she could be thankful for anything right now, Percy caught up. His face sobered which and a haunted look took place of the mischief in his eyes, the look that she saw whenever someone mentioned Tartarus.

"Who?," A simple question, with a simple answer, yet it carried so much weight. She didn't want to answer it and instead looked down and pictured her now dead friend's face, with the scar above his lip, the groove in his hair from the bullet and the newly added glasses. She missed him already and thought of what Piper might be feeling right about now.

* * *

"Who, Annabeth? G..Grover? Jason? Leo?," He asked, knowing that the others were relatively safe within the borders of the camp. Annabeth's breath hitched at the mention of Jason and Percy _understood_. He wished he hadn't, though. A tear escaped and he didn't bother wiping it away. No more blond Superman jokes. No more bad eyesight jokes. No more . No more. Jason was no more. That was it. And it hurt even more when he realised that Jason was a year younger than him. _Had been. Gods_ , past tense already. He tried forcing the words out of his mouth, but it didn't matter.

"H..how?" One short word.

"Piper told me that..uhh.. he was...was fighting... Caligula, and that he was stabbed by hi..him." So he died fighting. Justifiable, but not. He wasn't asking for fairness or luck but hoping that one day the gods would realise their stupidity and how their quests, while might not affect them, affect everyone else.

"Hey, at least he died a hero," Annabeth tried offering in compensation but her eyes spoke of a different tale. Percy didn't feel sad as much as he felt angry.

"A hero in a war which wasn't his to fight!" He exploded. "None of ours to fight. So many of us die every day for them, and what do we get in return, a thanks? Heck, not even that," He spoke mockingly without caring if any of the gods listened in. Every possible punishment for them had been levied, from amnesia to hell and he didn't care anymore.

"You think I don't think that way everyday? How, we're all fighting for a futile cause? How people, kids, DIE every single day while the people upstairs don't even bat an eye? How we lose our friends and they just go 'oops,my bad' like it doesn't matter!? I.. I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," Annabeth backtracked and Percy felt guilty for getting angry when a close friend of his had just died. A friend who had a sister who was known by Percy and Annabeth. Who needed to be notified about the death of his brother, from the sound of Annabeth's words.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, I.. I dunno what happened. No, you know what, I do. We're angry at the gods. The gods are angry at us for being angry at them. Fuck you, Zeus!," Percy shouted the last words aiming them at the sky, making sure that the concerned entity heard. The thunder that rolled shortly after was proof enough.

"Percy, stop. Before..before it gets out of hand. We, uhhm gotta tell the others. I'll go after Thalia. And Reyna. They need to know," Annabeth stood up and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Percy and exited the room. Her shoulders visibly slumped as she exited the door and Percy hoped nothing would happen to her. If Annabeth was tackling Reyna and Thalia, that left Percy with Frank, Hazel and Nico. Oh, and Chiron but he could get Annabeth to go with him for that part. The others, well, maybe they could have an assembly or something. After all, Jason had been praetor.

They used to be seven.

Now they were six.


	2. Chapter 2

**Guys, a three- shot. Second part of it. Would love it if you left a review.**

Nico was actually enjoying something for once when it happened. He had been walking down New Rome with Will, whom he had managed to convince to visit Camp Jupiter. Only problem: Nico hadn't known that there would be a war, another one, at Camp Jupiter. So, completely oblivious he had been discussing the very intriguing topic of different ways one can scale the lava wall at Camp Half-Blood without falling to one's death(in context). Will, who he could now proudly call his boyfriend, had argued that using only the arms would strain them but then while descending the legs could take maximum weight. Nico had said that he could simply climb without a strategy and hope Will would catch him.

It took him by surprise. All of a sudden there was this sinking, devastating, soul-crushing feeling in his gut. The feeling that he usually associated with death. Not just any death, but the death of someone he knew. Sometimes he felt like punching the life force out of Hades. He may be a demigod but his powers weren't gifts, they were curses. There was nothing even remotely comforting about knowing when someone he cares about dies. He didn't even want to think about how he could feel their essence being assessed in front of the three judges. This spirit was currently being let into Elysium. No matter how much of a paradise Elysium may be it can't be compared to being alive. He refused to know who the spirit was and instead counted on his fingers. _Not Hazel,_ Nico had just seen her and Frank discussing battle strategies. Plus, he knew what Hazel's spirit would feel like, and this one was not exactly _young, wise and guilt-ridden._ There was one trait both spirits seemed to share, though - _respect_. He moved on to the next person. _Frank_ \- unlikely. _Percy_ \- nope. _Annabeth, Piper, Jason and Leo._ Immediately he knew he was right. Nico couldn't deny it. _Jason._

Will was almost crouching in front of him when Nico came back to reality.

"Hey, you okay? Gaia to Nico, okay bad joke. N I C O!" He saw Will wave his hands around and lightly tap his cheeks. The son of Hades slowly looked up. _Jason_. He tried to convey that one-word message to Will. It didn't work.

"What's wrong, man?" Will still didn't seem to understand. Nico wanted to hold him by the neck and shake him until he got it. Then probably cry. Jason had been the first person he'd ever told and he had done the weirdest thing. Jason hadn't seemed to care if Nico was gay. He hadn't seemed to change his perspective about Nico based on that. No. Jason had done the unexpected. Where once, had he still been alive in the 40's, Nico would have been condemned by society, Jason had accepted him. He didn't have to but Nico was glad he had. Jason, the son of lightning, had accepted him for who he was. And after coming back to camp, after Nico had told everyone, Jason had promised to kick out anyone who didn't take in Nico as one of their own. No one had argued.

So Nico couldn't stop the tears. He wasn't one for crying but he couldn't help it now. Will stopped asking him what was wrong and sensed the change in atmosphere. Before he knew it Will had his arms wrapped around him while whispering reassurances. Nico just stood there. _Another friend, another death, another soul._ That was what Jason would be to his father. But to him, the first person he ever confided into, a person he looked up to, the way Jason could balance being respectful and maintaining efficiency while having fun. He may have only been a year or so older than Nico himself but Jason acted well beyond his years while Nico still seemed to be stuck in his stupid teenage emo stage. No, Nico was not just sad. Or angry. He was furious. He knew he couldn't get Jason a second chance up here, though. Hades had told him that he won't be accepting any return offers or exchanges. So he did the only thing he could. He pushed away Will and stormed off till he found a boulder of sorts to sit on. He wasn't sure if anyone else knew but Nico didn't have the heart to break the news. He could sense Will trying to follow him and Nico walked even faster. Taking a seat, he buried his face in his hands and tried to comprehend everything.

That was when he noticed someone coming his way. Thinking it was his boyfriend he called. "Go away, Will. I promise I'll tell you what happened later, just.. not now."

"Nico? You alright?" It wasn't Will but a voice he knew almost as well. Nico let his arms fall into his hands and looked up. Percy was staring at him and gulped, closed his eyes, opened them after a while and generally looked like someone had taken his heart through a meat grinder. Nico wiped away the last of the tears and stared back. It got awkward after a few seconds so he looked down again. Percy started forward and sat alongside Nico their shoulders almost touching. Nico shifted away a little being uncomfortable with all that attention and the fact that the guy he used to have a crush on wanted to talk to him.

"So you heard, huh?" Nico said, his voice full of unshed tears.

"Yeah, I.. thought that I'd inform you but I guess that was stupid. You'd obviously know about it first." Percy sounded a little disappointed though Nico had no idea why. They sat like that for a while each staring at the ground in front of them. A few minutes passed.

"You know, you can leave now. I'll be fine,"

"You sure? I mean, of course you are but still are you,"

"Shut up before you make a fool of yourself."

"Right. You sure you are gonna be fine though?"

"Yes, now leave unless you want Steve the skeleton to be sent after you."

"Gods, no! I'll, I'll leave. Just, if there's anything, anything at all.."

"Nope, nothing. Go, Percy"

"Of course. See you around." Percy finally left though he seemed a bit unsure. Nico was glad that was over to be honest. If he had let Percy go on there would have been a speech on how to cope with death. Nico didn't have time for TED Talks anyway. He has had enough of death. Once Percy left, he stared into oblivion hoping someday Jason would get to enter the Isles of the Blest. Nico wasn't religious but he swore to leave something at Hades' shrine if it meant three-time paradise for his former friend. Jason may not be alive in spirit but he was going to live on in each of their memories. Cheesy, but true.

* * *

Frank was cleaning the stables with Hazel. Yes, you heard that right. Even Praetors have jobs no matter how trivial. He had swept the floor and was now getting out the washcloth when Percy came walking into the stables. His shoulders were drooping and his eyes downcast. Frank could only wonder what bad news there was going to be this time. No one he knew had been seriously happy in the past few days since the attacks had started. They had won but lost a lot of lives, good ones along the way. In Frank's mind, that wasn't a victory.

"Hazel, Frank, can I come in?" Percy's words were normal but his tone made him look like he had been crying.

"Yes, of course." Hazel gestured for him to come in.

"Nice job with the stables," Percy commented.

"Thanks, though I don't think that's why you came here."

"No, no that's not it." Percy started rubbing his neck looking down sheepishly but Frank didn't think Percy had any reason to feel ashamed.

"Well, what happened?" Frank asked, motioning for him to sit down. Hazel joined Frank and Percy on the floor and both of them bored their eyes onto Percy's face. He still didn't look up.

"I, I don't know how to, well, this is.." Hazel put a hand on Percy's arm and squeezed. Percy, if possible, seemed to deflate even more.

"Guys, Jason's.. he's.. dead," Frank couldn't believe he had just heard those very words exit his friend's mouth. So he asked what was on his mind.

"What?"

"Jason's gone, Frank. He's dead."

"Are you sure?"

"Frank, Nico confirmed it. He's actually, really gone."

"Oh,"

"Yeah,"

Frank didn't know how he was supposed to feel. He hadn't known Jason that well but he had been able to call him his friend. More than a friend though, to Frank Jason had always seemed like more of an ally. A person he looked up to, more or less. After all they had been on the Argo || for about three weeks. In those three weeks Frank had been given a field promotion to praetor by none other than Jason Grace himself. He turned to look at Hazel who was still staring at Percy in shock. Denial. Their leader, their friend had just died and Frank didn't know what to do about that. So he remained silent for he couldn't think of nothing to say. But Hazel could.

"Well, what now?" Hazel's voice sounded tiny and scared but determined. Frank wished he could think. Found out he couldn't. Except for the tiny detail that involved them once being the SEVEN.


End file.
